Thomas Markle interview: Meghan Markle's father accuses her of quitting royal family for money as he admits lying to Prince Harry
Thomas Markle has spoken out about his fractious relationship with his daughter, the Duchess of Sussex, for the first time since she and the Duke of Sussex revealed their decision to walk away from the royal family and pursue a life in Canada.
In Thomas Markle: My Story, which aired on Channel 5 on 22 January, Mr Markle discusses his absence from the May 2018 royal wedding, the way in which he has been portrayed in the media and how he learned the news of his daughter’s pregnancy over the radio.
The 90-minute long programme was filmed at Mr Markle’s home in Mexico in October 2019 over a six-day period.
In the documentary, Mr Markle confessed to lying to Prince Harry about staging paparazzi photographs of himself in the days prior to the royal wedding.
The 75-year-old also said that the last time he spoke to Meghan was over the phone shortly after he had suffered a heart attack. It was during that phone call when he told the couple he was too unwell to attend the wedding.
At the end of the film, in a clip that was filmed just days ago, Mr Markle speaks about Harry and Meghan’s decision to step down from the royal family, which he claimed they did “for money” before going on to describe it as “embarrassing” for him.
Channel 5 states that the Sussexes did not respond when approached for comment on Mr Markle’s claims.
It's nearly go time. So far, we know that Mr Markle will discuss how he learned that his daughter and Harry were expecting a baby over the radio, which he described as “almost a joke”.
He added that there is a possibility he may never see Meghan and Prince Harry in person again.
Who knows what else Mr Markle will discuss. Only time will tell...
Addressing the fact that he was not present at his daughter’s nuptials to Prince Harry, the 75-year-old said he wishes to “apologise to the Queen and the royal family”.
In the documentary, the retired television lighting director affirms his belief that some stories about him in the media have painted him in a negative light, saying that he wished to make the documentary, “because I want everyone to know that I’m not all the trashy things that are being said about me”.
Mr Markle hopes that Meghan and Harry will watch the documentary because he is a part of their family. "We should be talking," he told the cameras in the opening segment.
Mr Markle has a memorabilia mug celebrating the birth of Archie Harrison, Meghan and Harry's son. He also has a biscuit tin with Meghan and Harry's photograph on it.
He just made a strange joke about their being Meghan and Harry-branded condoms.
Thomas is talking about segregation he noticed between white people and black people when he was a child. "We saw very few black people growing up in Pennsylvania," he said.
Thomas is talking about meeting his first wife, Roslyn Markle,73.
He said she got pregnant with their daughter early on into their relationship but they didn't consider having an abortion because it wasn't socially acceptable at the time.
He met Doria at ABC. "I found her very attractive," Thomas recalls.
"Not everybody seems to approve of those kind of relationships," he added with regards to being in a mixed-race relationship. "People would look at Doria like she was a housekeeper. It wasn't fair. Of course it wasn't fair.
"I think she's going through the same problem right now with the royals. I don't think they know where to place her. She always looks scared. She always looks like a deer in the headlights."
